


First Day on The Job

by Ironlegionaire



Series: Sweet Future Series [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Stevens first day at the bakery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-25 11:08:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22255207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ironlegionaire/pseuds/Ironlegionaire
Summary: Steven's first day taking over the bakery. A sequel to A Sweet Future.
Series: Sweet Future Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602076
Comments: 1
Kudos: 31





	First Day on The Job

Steven sighed.

“Okay Steven, you can do this. You’ve faced down White Diamond. You went toe-to-toe with Spinel. You beat Jasper by yourself just a few weeks ago. You’ve got this.

Steven then took from his pocket a key and then looked at the yellow door with the sign reading “closed” in curly cursive language.

His insides squirmed. He immediately felt like he’d rather fight Jasper again then walk in.

Lars giving him the job had been nice, really thoughtful but the idea of actually working at the bakery somehow filled him with more anxiousness then facing down corrupted Gems.

It wasn’t that he thought he couldn’t handle the job or that it was yet another change it in the long line of them that had been happening since peace with the diamonds. If anything, working at the bakery seemed like a welcome change, a nice reprieve from all his worries about how things had been going with his life and future.

But even a nice change was still a change and it was really worrying. Not to mention this was Lars’s bakery, his dream. He’d made this place with his own two hands (and a small investment from his dad). He couldn’t help but worry that maybe he’d end up ruining it or doing something that would end up making Lars hate him once he’d returned from space.

Maybe it’d be better if he just went back home.

But just as he was about to turn around and leave, he thought back to what Lars had said to him in his doorway.

“This is something new you can do. A change you can make.”  
He then remembered how he’d been silent when Amethyst had asked him what he’d had going on, the twisting discomfort in his gut when he saw his friends all moving forward with their lives and away from him.

He didn’t want to keep feeling like that.

Steven took a deep breath and clenched the key tightly in his fist.

“I can do this. I. Can make. A change.”

Pushed forward by his newfound resolve, Steven plunged his key in and twisted the knob.

Ching!  
The store bell chimed when he opened the door. The stores inside still looked about the same as last time, the only difference being that the lights were off and the workers absent. He gave a quick sniff, the smell of baked goods still permeating the air helping to ease his nerves. He turned around and flipped the sign from CLOSED to OPEN. He then went over to where the kitchen was, found an apron for himself, and put it on.

“Time to get to work.”

Overall the day was...nice. Really nice.

Just after he’d started baking blue lace and the other employees showed up to help get everything prepared. He assisted customers, helped organize orders, fill display cases, file new orders, and of course bake tray after tray of confectioneries.

It was so odd. The day had kept him just as busy as a day at little homeschool, the only difference being dealing with customers and baked goods rather than lost gems, and yet for some reason the work felt different. Whenever he completed a new tray of sweets or sold a purchase to a customer it made him feel...good. Somehow baking a tray of cookies or seeing a smile on the face of a new customer who’d just gotten their order managed to make him feel happier then he’d been in a while. It almost reminded him of when he was a kid and he’d temporarily taken Lars’s place at the Big Doughnut. Maybe it wasn't helping Gems find their place on Earth but it gave him a kind of warm sense of fulfillment that he'd never gotten just working with Gems.

By the time the work day had ended, Steven had a tired but joyful smile on his face. He drove his Dondai back home, walked up to the beach house, and opened the door to see the Gems all sitting around the table. They immediately all tried to make it seem like they were doing something but he could tell they'd been waiting up for him.

"Hey Steven, how you doing?" Amethyst asked innocently while munching on the times of a fork.

"I'm fine." Stevens chuckled wearily. "I've had a pretty long day, so I'm going to go to bed"

"Steven wait!" Pearl blurted out, slamming the upside down magazine she'd been pretending to read on the table. She nervously asked. "How was work?"

Steven thought about everything that had happened that day and without meaning to, a large grin grew on his face.

"It was a good day."


End file.
